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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, ruppel... get well soon...
foot, leg, or hip, troubles are no fun...
:(
great to see lots of shares here, too, to help you out,
as to various reasons, and support...
:)
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ruppell
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 6, 2011 - 12:59am PT
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Jim
27 years ago and you still remember it. That one made me laugh(in a good way). So 26 years 8 months from now maybe I'll relate something similar to someone else.
Raafie
If you ever wanna talk about shoulders let me know. Right or left doesn't matter!
neebee
Thanks for the support
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ruppell
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 6, 2011 - 02:11am PT
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Jim
"Gettin' old ain't for wimps"!
Love it man. Tell you're mom I'm gonna use that. I'm not that old and that just put a smile on my face.
Thanks
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timt
Trad climber
Wheat Ridge, CO
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Want to read about some shattered calcaneus nastiness, read Tomaz Humar's biography. He shattered his in a bad way working on his home. Rough recovery, but he ended up in the Himalaya again.
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aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Since blood supply is an issue with that area of the body, one thing that really helped a friend of mine years ago, when nothing else did, was hot/cold water therapy. You keep it in hot water for several minutes, then plunge it into ice water for 30 seconds; repeat the cycle, alternating hot and cold seven times or so. Gets extra building blocks of nutrients there faster.
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jopay
climber
so.il
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Broke my right Calcaneus many years ago bouldering at Cedar Bluffs, no one else was there basically ended up crawling out dragging my pack and rope. Didn't require surgery,got the cast and physical therapy which I've always believed was the weak link in my outcome. I have tended to wear shoes a bit differently on that foot, but I do think that over time my ankle is better than ever. The ankle used to be a bit stiff in the morning if I had run the previous day. I suppose it does something to the tendons/ligaments in the joint. My advise get some good physical therapy during rehab.
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Fishy
climber
Zurich, Switzerland
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Broken talus for me. A nasty experience all round - initial expectations were that the entire ankle would probably have to be fused after 6 months.
Avoided the fusion, abd 5 years on it works OK, but still swells up easily when hiking over uneven terrain.
Was still noticeably improving for 12 months. Didn't finish the healing process for probably 18 months.
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ruppell
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 7, 2011 - 12:06pm PT
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Thanks for all the input guys. Seems I'm beginning to see the light. Hopefully have that CT scan scheduled for next week sometime. All in all I guess my recovery is more on pace than I would have thought.
Thanks
Matt
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JeffR
Trad climber
Cayucos, CA
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Don't forget proprioceptor training/rehap -- very important after any ankle or foot injury.
-Jeff Rininger
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Broke mine a few years ago jumping a gap on a descent. Kept climbing until a couple weeks after the incident. Me and MisterE went soloing and that day the pain got so bad from just walking around I had to finally see a doc. Sat on the couch for a couple weeks, self-medicating it with some ancient rituals involving fresh herbs, and started climbing again with moderate pain.
Pain was completely gone within 6mo, but mine was also a hairline crack, not busted into multiple pieces. I didn't have health ins at the time and had to call in a favor to get seen by an ortho. Good luck.
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ruppell
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - May 2, 2012 - 07:59pm PT
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Daphne
Yeah I'm still around I just gave up on this site a long time ago. For this I'll make an exception. For starters get ready to just deal with a lot of pain. Sounds like your break is pretty severe compared to mine. Mine fractured and had I seen a ortho right away they would have put a pin or two in it to straighten the alignment. As it is I didn't see a Doc until almost 6 weeks had gone by(yeah I'm thick headed). By the time I saw him he basically said it was well on it's way to healing. I did have a CT scan done because he was worried about a small fracture going into the sub-talar joint which can lead to major issues down the line. I was fortunate that the fracture line didn't continue into the joint. I started rehab on the ankle before I went to see the Doc and continued with stretching and strength exercises for about 3 months. After that pain slowly started to go away and I resumed more of a normal gait. I started really climbing again about six months after the injury. It's been just over a year now and I can still feel it every once in a while especialy with heavy loads but all in all I'd say I'm 95% back to normal. It's a long road that may seems daunting but just start down it and push yourself as hard as you can as soon as you can. And get used to netflix. Wish you a speedy recovery.
Matt
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Nate101
Trad climber
Aliso Viejo, CA
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I broke my heel 6 months ago when I screwed up the lower out into the stove legs. Rookie move. I've got four screws in the heel now. I'm still struggling with stiffnes/pain in the achillies tendon. Scar tissue and soreness at two of the screws. The plan is to eventually pull the screws, but the doc wants to wait another six months.
I'm cycling with no pain, but walking, hiking, and climbing are tough. I'd like to get out to Tahquitz this Sunday if I can line up a partner. Not looking forward to the approach!
Nate
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landcruiserbob
Trad climber
PUAKO, BIG ISLAND Kohala Coast
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Been there as well.
Mine hurt for a year but It got better and better each day. I was in my mid 30's when it happened, now I'm in my mid 40's running marathons, ironmans, surfing , & wind surfing.
I climb less than 20 days a year now because of all of my foot injuries, especially big toes. They hurt like hell, but I don't regret a moment of my time on the rocks.
My son made the same mistake you did and didn't go get X-rays.
Now get to Vail Colorado and go to the Steadman Hawkings clinic; it will be worth it to see the best podiatrist in the world. Your feet are tripods, you have screwed up a key link. Go see the best for the repair.
Aloha and be well
Rg
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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I had a hairline non displaced fracture in my calcaneus. I didn't need surgery or a cast. It hurt like a sonofabitch for well over a year.
Like the others, it was a bouldering fall of only 5 feet or so. I wasn't using a pad because it was a really easy problem.
The Plantar Fasciitis might have been worse than the actual fracture. Plantar Fasciitis takes forever to heal. Months and months.
Don't go messing around with your foot bones. You have 6 million or so bones in your feet that must do a lot of work. If one dies, you can live with it or have it taken out, but you will probably take it out if it causes pain.
I had avascular necrosis in my knee a couple of years ago, right on top of my tibia socket where one of the Femur knobs fits. That hurt like crazy, and I had a number of bad diagnoses until I got with a really good ortho who sent the MRI's to a really good radiologist.
Most people will listen to a doctor's view of an MRI, but if you really want to do it right, get a copy of the radiologist's report, copies of all MRI's and doctor's info.
Mine looked like a big cyst in the top of the tibia and I was diagnosed with arthritis 8 times. So I had it scoped, which is a really quck surgery to recover from, and they found clean cartilage all over the joint and zero arthritis. Despite this, I was still getting an incorrect diagnosis.
Supposedly it was caused by some sort of trauma, but there was no point where I hurt it. It just started hurting on its own. They thought it would heal, but over a year it kept growing. Subchondroidal cancers are nigh unheard of in adults, other than a metastatic spread of another cancer. Still they sent me to an orthopedic oncologist. So it wasn't bone cancer. Cancers within the bone usually occur in kids.
My doc said that he had never seen a cyst like that without gross arthritis, which I didn't have. I ended up getting half of my knee replaced and now it is much better, although I am limited now. They had to do a graft when they put in the appliance, and that knee is impossible to kneel on now.
My advice is to always get copies of your MRI's as well as all reports. The radiologist always makes a report, then get the doc's report, the surgery report's, the CT scans, and anything else. It is such a maze that the doctors always dropped the ball. I had to keep a "scrap book" of all of the work and different radiologist and doc reports, including surgery reports. You have to be your own activist, and if you find yourself having to orally explain it to a new doc over and over, then you need to give him a copy of all work to date to keep each doc on the same page.
I found this a terribly crappy problem.
So keep all of the paper trail.
I can't believe that you were getting around on a through fracture of the calcaneus. That is one break that hurts like crazy and never heals.
Get it fixed. It will cost 50 grand, but don't worry about that. The Republicans will find a church group to pay for it.
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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The other amazingly painful break was the big toe.
I know that people stub their toes really bad and assume that it is broken and will heal. That is almost certainly not a break. Trust me.
When you break a toe bone, especially the big toe, it hurts like crazy for many months.
I fractured a tibia once, and that was nothing compared to the calcaneus and metatarsal breaks. The big toe hurt for well over a year. So did the Plantar Fasciitis from the calcaneus fracture.
If you end up with avascular necrosis, like I did in my knee, you are looking at all types of bad scenarios.
Just go get it x-rayed first. That is cheap. Then go for an MRI if you need it. An MRI is over a thousand bucks if you don't have insurance.
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jopay
climber
so.il
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I fell bouldering (pre-pad days) and broke my Calcaneus, crawled to my truck, spent six weeks in a cast, didn't require surgery. After six weeks doctor wanted to leave it casted longer, but I was anxious to get it off. I then went to rehab that was a joke, basically a whirlpool foot tub and some range of motion with a belt? That was years ago, and most mornings that foot is slow to loosen up, particularly after climbing, I can almost always feel that foot is weaker, though it doesn't bother me once I'm warmed up or even to run. My advise get some good rehab.
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doughnutnational
Gym climber
its nice here in the spring
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I'm another one who had a non displaced calcaneus fx and crawled back to my truck. I have no lasting pain from the injury. Good luck to you.
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Frozenwaterfalls
Ice climber
California
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Good to hear about all the recoveries! I did the "foot between the mats while hopping off the bouldering wall" in the gym (the humiliation) and dislocated my ankle and fractured the talus bone. A large quantity of swearing, I reduced the dislocation myself, but couldn't weight the thing at all so was carted off the to the hospital. I was on crutches for two weeks while also in a boot. The boot for a total of one month. Then carefully walking. It has been four months now and I finally have been able to start climbing (only on TR and no cracks) again. I did go to PT but had to fight for it (Kaiser). And I was sent to a podiatrist but had to fight to see an orthopedist (who did the MRIs and found the fracture). It has been pretty frustrating, but to hear that I am about on par with others who have had similar accidents for recovery rate makes me feel a bit better. I have water skiied on it (not so smart) and windsurfed (proprioception training right ;)?) but walking/hiking still hurts a lot, especially hills. I am definitely lacking in all ranges of motion. Any suggestions for that other than traditional stretches (achilles, quad, etc)?
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Daphne
Trad climber
Black Rock City
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As of April 29 I'm a year out from breaking my calcaneus in a lead fall. I drove my talus into the joint and shattered the bone. Surgery, pins and a plate, then another surgery in December to take the metal out and debride the scar tissue. This is a long, long recovery. I just put my foot back in a crack 2 weeks ago-- couldn't begin to face that idea but it was fine when I stepped up, hooray.
If you are in the sf bay area, I can recommend an insanely expensive but immensely good pt-- he works with the dancers at the sf ballet and is an athlete and understands feet completely. I've gotten great help in understanding what kind of movement to practice to bring back full functioning.
My first steps in the morning are still painful. If I am hard on my foot, I pay for it. But it continues to get better and better and I can do everything I want to do, except there's pain after.
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Frozenwaterfalls
Ice climber
California
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Daphne, could you post the name of the PT in the Bay Area? My Kaiser PT has been good for basics, but the Kaiser methodology seems to be "if you are walking again, you are fine" rather than getting active people back to as close to 100% functionality as possible. I didn't have to have hardware put in nor surgery so my injury was mild compared to yours, but the soft tissue damage was pretty bad so I think more PT would be great since my range of motion is still not there. And I am a slab climber and an ice climber so if I can't drop my heel, I am doomed :)!
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